The Tale of a Gutsy Survivor
by EpicRamenFTW
Summary: DISCONTINUED
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Looking

…_What's that bright light…?_

…_Whose hand is this…?_

…_Oh…it's my own hand…_

…_Who's calling me…?_

…_I…What's going on…?_

I sat up. An unimaginable pain bore on my forehead. I had no other injuries, apart from a few minor scratches on my arms and legs. My head felt groggy and the world around me kept spinning.

I craned my head and my surroundings came sharply into focus. Nothing but an endless forest of trees circled around me, towering into the cloudy sky. As I stared absentmindedly at the golden brown leaves on the dark, soiled ground, I remembered. I remembered the disastrous events of the past that lead me to my lost position. I immediately stood up and marched my way through the thick piles of leaves crunching below my weight.

Even as I tried to walk through the forest confidently, my destination and goal was unknown. I tried to calm down and think of the most practical thing to do. Then it hit me; I had no food, no shelter, and no water. If I was to survive, I had to make those my top priorities. Then I could analyse the situation I was in…

So after several long minutes of tramping my way through dry sticks, leaves and pebbles, I finally arrived at a long and narrow stream. As I bent over the clear watery surface, I saw that I was missing my forehead protector and black red cloud patterned travelling cloak. All I wore was a fishnet shirt, underwear and track pants. The mark of the Uzumaki clan, which I was born with, was still there, embedded in the palm of my left hand. However, there was a large and deep cut on my forehead, which was dripping blood steadily into the gleaming freshwater. Even though I knew it was going to hurt like crap, I dipped my fingers in the water and gently moved them across the slash.

I winced as the pain in my forehead enlarged. Then, I realised that my mouth was parched. It felt like I swallowed a ton of sand. I cupped my hands in the freshwater and began drinking endlessly.

When I was finally satisfied, I walked on. I decided to look for shelter. A building or another person was impossible to find in a wild forest, so I searched for any means of a hut or cave nearby.

I searched for hours, looking high and low for a possibility. Finally, when I was about to give up, luck struck me. I stumbled across a deserted cave, which was full of soft straw and large trunks. I carefully set a foot in the cave floor, hesitating. When I was sure there were no hidden traps, I walked in and began gathering several piles of straw on a flat, stone surface to make a bed.

When I finished patting down the straw, I advanced towards the other side of the cave, where the trunks were. I lifted a rusty lid, looking at the contents inside. There was a mass of kunai knives and shuriken stacked neatly against the walls of the trunk. I picked up a kunai, examining it, admiring at the shiny sheen of the sharp blade. When I turned back to the trunk to put it back, I found a large pouch that was sitting in the place of the kunai. I took it, stored some of the weapons inside it and hooked the pouch onto my track pants. Then I closed the lid and moved on.

The next trunk was full of cutlery and bowls. Some forks were chipped, some bowls were dirty, but the others were decently cleaned and cared for. I didn't want to be lumbered with cleaning cutlery all day, so I picked out two of each with good quality. Since there was no table or cupboard in the cave, I fashioned a sort of cubby hole out of some flat rocks and placed them in there.

Rummaging through the trunks thoroughly took a long time. By the time I finally finished collecting the last things I would need and putting them into the pouch, I was exhausted. My neck hurt like hell, and my legs had pins and needles in them so I could hardly walk. With the last few steps I took, I collapsed onto the straw bed and lay there, looking outside. The sky had turned orange, and the sun was sinking lower and lower into a mass of twisted branches of trees.

My eyelids began drooping and my vision became blurry as I stifled a yawn. I forced my eyes to stay open as I wanted to stay up and be on the lookout for anything suspicious, but they kept dropping and dropping until my eyes were fully closed. Before I knew it, I was asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Book

_Splat._

I turned, disturbed in my blissful sleep.

_Splat._

I tossed around, clutching at the straw underneath me.

_Splat._

With the third _splat_, I jolted up off my straw bed and limped towards the cave entrance, yawning and rubbing my dried eyes. The moment I reached the entrance, I was shocked and surprised. Outside, there were flakes of white frost, drifting lightly onto the already heavily snowed ground. The trees and bushes were also powdered with white, and topped off with snow caps. I gasped at this winter wonderland, marvelling at the amazing sight. I hadn't seen snow for years and years. Then I realized I had no fire to keep me warm. I had to start one immediately, unless I wanted to get hypothermia.

I trotted towards a trunk and began pulling out dry sticks. Then I piled up a bunch of straw and placed some rocks around it. After I finished making the fireplace, I picked up two thick sticks and began rubbing them against each other like a madman, hoping they would send off a spark of fire into the straw.

However, nothing happened. I cursed at the freezing cold, rubbing furiously, panicking by the second. In the end, things were still the same. I still had no fire, and I had wasted my energy by exhausting my arms. I muttered another stream of swear words under my breath. I walked towards my bed, sat down, and began staring into space.

After several minutes of resting my chin on my knees and staring pointlessly into nothingness, I stood up and rifled through a trunk again, out of boredom. Then I found what I was looking for. It was the thick paperback book I found yesterday while rummaging through the trunks.

I took it with me to bed, covering every inch of myself in the straw and gazed at the front cover of the book. It was ancient. Peeling leather, dog-eared and torn, the cover bore the words _'Legends of Survival and Survivors'_. I turned it over and began reading.

'_In order to survive, one must secure boundaries and rules for himself. He must not choose foolish options over wiser and better choices. Many good people go to waste because of this. They panic over any situation and do not think about what to do. For example, if one is about to hunt for consumables, in the area that he is accessing he should rule out a section where he considers safe. As days pass by, he can thoroughly explore the rest of that land little by little and get to know his surroundings. Only then does one get familiar to the routes he should take and the routes that are dangerous without certain equipment...'_

_Geez, this book goes on and on. I guess it's good that way though, since I get to learn about surviving the best way and all that, _I thought.

I turned over, so I was lying on my stomach, and flipped through the other pages. There was a lot of other waffle about edible and inedible food. However, one particular topic on storing food before winter caught my attention. My eyes snapped to it, and I began devouring the words eagerly.

Seconds after I finished reading the words of the topic, I was scared. The book had clearly outlined that hunting for food during winter was very dangerous.

But I couldn't go on like this. My stomach needed something in it and my taste buds were itching for flavour.

I stood up.

'I don't care what the book says. I've got the guts to do this, DAMMIT!' I yelled. I quickly strapped my pouch onto the back of my trousers, grabbed a basket (which I had found in a trunk) on the go, charging into the shivering cold.

I ran towards a bush, and to my utter amazement I saw dark fruit at the end of the short, stout branches. I rapidly began shovelling the blueberries into the basket.

As I finished collecting in the last few blueberries, I saw a shadow coming towards me. I quickly felt around in my pouch, drawing out a long, glittering kunai.

'Who's there? Show yourself!' I yelled. My voice echoed around the bleak surroundings.

'_Show yourself! Show yourself! Show yourself…!_'


End file.
